Winter Spruce
This character is for the Peaceful Nature Contest hosted by Red Destruction Appearance You glance around at the lovely and unfortunately freezing taiga, snow glittering brightly in the setting sunlight. Billows of snow sat on the duller green spruce needles, threatening to collapse and sink to the snow covered ground. A single bachelor robin sounds, flapping overhead. You were very excited for your first mission. You’d been instructed by your Queen to go and see what was hiding out in the taiga. You twirl in the air, dodging the precarious branches that stuck out in your path. Many dragons had gone missing in these parts in the last few moons, throwing a few suspicions around the Kingdom. Suddenly, you realize just how still the forest had gotten. You twist your head, looking for any sign of... anything. Not a single bird sang, not a single footstep dotted the needle strewn ground. Even the bachelor robin was gone. A rustle in the trees. A flash of pale blue and grey scales flies before your vision, and you hear a small zipping noise. You feel something hit the back of your neck. Before you can bring your talons to swat away whatever hit you, you get nauseous and collapse. ………………………………………………… You blink blearily. Everything is dark. For a split second, you panic, thinking maybe you’d gone blind. You peer behind a large rock, and find two moons, both waning crescents. Sighing in relief that you weren’t blind, you sit up a bit, trying to fathom what had just happened. That’s when that rock began to move. Only, it wasn’t a rock. It was a huge, towering IceWing. Only, he looked towering, as you still lay on the pine needle bed. His eyes looked as black as a new moon, and his tail swished frighteningly to the side. Three other dragons walked over to where he was standing. One looked like a SkyWing. You could tell by it’s longer neck and huge wings. The other you couldn’t really tell, but then you saw it’s star splattered wings, a NightWing, but it’s wings were oddly large... The other was a SandWing, you could tell by it’s frills and the way it held it’s tail. You realized another smaller blue dragon, with a set of lenses and deep blue scales. You were about to say something, and attempted to sit up, but in response you get a bash at the back of your neck, knocking you out firmly. ………………………………………………………… It was morning. Your head throbbed a little, and you touched it, wincing. You look up, and all around. There was an IceWing. He was grey, very light grey, though. His pale blue ombré wings flared a little, and his baby blue spikes reflected the new sunlight. “Why have you come to this forest?” the large IceWing asked. “I...I was sent on a mission by my Queen to find out why so many dragons have been disappearing in these parts.” You say, studying the blue-grey IceWing with extra sharpened talons that you nervously gaze at. “Hmm,” he growled disappointedly, to your demise. “The usual.” You were pretty sure you heard him mumble. His fangs flashed as he gritted his teeth, annoyed. “Deep!” He called, and a deep teal SeaWing emerged from the cave’s shadows, her odd orange-amber eyes glowing with deep intellect. “You called me?” She said in a voice that was a bit boring, but deep and filled with knowledge. “Yes. This one’s the usual.” He sighed. “Why can’t we find the right one?” He asked, with a bit of frustrated longing you couldn’t ignore. What does he mean “the right one?” Who are these dragons? You think, planning to escape and report back to your Queen. The IceWing was blocking the only legible entrance, and you remembered spotting a few other dragons the previous night. Suddenly, a bright red-orange SkyWing galloped into the light, crashing right into Deep. “Eeeep!” She squealed, her dark talons scraping against the cool cave rock. “Urghhhh...” Deep groaned, “get OFF.” She tried to throw the SkyWing off with her weight, but the SkyWing was just a bit larger and heavier, making it impossible for Deep to get her off. “Oh, sorry, Deep.” said the SkyWing. The Skywing was a red-orange with an extra long tail and twisted horns, and her wings seemed to be just a bit larger then the average sized wings. “Graceful,” the IceWing said carefully, “You need to be more careful.” He looked like he wanted something. The way he looked at that Skywing...Graceful... you’d seen that gaze before... “Just call me Grace, by the moons.” Graceful whined, swishing her tail around and fixing her wing position. Suddenly, she gasped, looking at you. “Oh no! Do we have to break another dragon’s wings?” she said to your horror. She noticed the look on your face. “Oops.” The SandWing you hadn’t noticed before growled at her. His eyes were duller brown, and his scales were a naive pale yellow. He looked like one of those dragons that always thought about food. Suddenly, a large blackish figure was in front of you, smothering everything from view. Before you could protest, a metal piece clamped over your face. You decide it was probably a NightWing. “Please take her away.” Graceful pleaded. “And don’t do what you did to the last one.” You decide you really didn’t want to know what happened to “the last one.” “Oh, stop worrying your face off, Grace.” The NightWing growled. “This time I’ll be more...careful as to not accidentally rip it’s bottom jaw off. Plus, that was a MudWing. Their jaws are, like, HUGE. Especially that one’s.”she finished, stuffing you in a bag. You felt her take flight, the wind chilling your bones. You try to claw at the bag, but the sewing to tightly knotted, and you were already weak from being knocked out twice. You shake your head. How could this happen? It seemed like forever when she finally took you out of the bag and tossed you carelessly onto the melting snowy ground. You shiver, not sure if it was from fear or cold. You decide it was both. She approached you, and took the clamp off. You, instinctively, try to take flight, but she hurtled her body against yours, tearing a bit of the membrane. You squeak in pain, struggling hard, but soon give up. You notice her underbelly was a shade of orange. What in the moons... You glance at her, noticing that her horns were twisted instead of straight. Her wings were large, much larger then average. Her eyes were amber, and she had odd, orange spots and mango coloured wings. A NightWing-SkyWing hybrid. You connect. “Sorry if this hurts a lot.” She said, wincing at your pleading gaze. Before you spcould plead your case, you hear a snap, and horrible pain flies through your body. You try to scream, but nothing comes out. After she’d made it impossible for you to fly or even move, she slits your stomach a little. A bit of blood flows onto the ground, staining it a sickly colour. “That’s just to make sure you won’t survive.” She said, pleased with herself. “Now.” She continued. “If you somehow survive, tell your Queen to never send another dragon here again.” She stamped her legs against the ground. You nod, terrified. Since you are not the “revenge” kind of dragon, you tell yourself that you wouldn’t let any dragons come back. You would tell your Queen that there was a horrible monster here and it just had mercy on you, letting you live with a few severe injuries. She suddenly took flight, gliding through the pine trees, her odd, skinny tail fading to orange glinting in the sunlight. You try to crawl, but everything is in pain. You sit up, and cry a little. You pull yourself together, surely someone will come find you soon. You decide it would be smart to take a nap. You don’t feel cold anymore, and the sun was shining down on your scales, supplying a niche of heat. You wake up to the sun just beginning to set. You gaze at it’s lovely colours, hoping that you would be able to see this back at your kingdom one day. Sighing, you get comfortable, and watch the sun fall into the snow. Personality Graceful sighed. It was a happy sigh, a sigh that blew tenderness and slight longing. She crouched down, enjoying the gorgeous sunset that complimented her red-orange scales perfectly. She wanted to stay here forever, and she didn’t even know why. Sometimes Grace just had that feeling. That feeling when you’re flying and you feel you’ll never run out of energy, and you just want to keep flying and never stop. She wished Winter Spruce would come out and sit beside her. All of the snow was melting, the first warm day since... how long has it been? Three moons? Four moons? Well, it seemed like forever. She wanted his cool, refreshing icy grey-blue scales to press against hers, making her the perfect temperature. The sun was large and red, reflecting pink and purple against the cumulo nimbus clouds that blew towards the frigid taiga, threatening another icy storm. She sighed again, getting ready to get up and go back to the shelter of their stuffy, damp cave. Suddenly, she heard the click-clacking of scales. Too angry to be Deep’s or Oryx’s talonsteps, and usually Sunsetter’s talons make padding noises. Winter! Graceful thought, her heart skipping a little. She turned to look into his deep green eyes. He had a straight line of a smile, the one that tried to hide several feelings that you could still tell he was feeling. His snout was straight at the end, and his fangs were very white, though he usually didn’t show them in a smile. Graceful suddenly had a memory. A memory about her and Winter Spruce. They were younger, probably only 2 or 3. They were playing in the freshly fallen snow, rolling around in it and having snow fights. Then Grace got hurt, tripping over a tree root that stuck out of the ground. Winter came over, and carried her home. Back to the cave. And it was adorable. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten that. It was quite a random memory, but it warmed her heart a little. She loved random memories. “Hi.” He said a bit nervously, settling down beside me, his precious, grey scales pressing up against my warm side. “Isn’t it beautiful?” Graceful asked, trying to bring up a conversation. “The sunset, I mean.” He nodded. Grace could tell he trying to figure out what to say. His grey scales turned a charcoal colour as he settled in a spot protected by the piercing sun. Finally, he turned to her, dark jade eyes reflecting the red sky. One side of his face was orange-ish, while the other was dark grey. He kept blinking his eye on the sunny side of his face, as if he could blink away the sun. He gazed back at the sky, it’s red features now beginning to desipate to yellow and purple. “Where do you think the sun goes when it sets?” She asked carefully. “Well.” He started, “I think it goes into the sea to rest. It looks to us, since we’re so far away from the Kingdom of the Sea, like it’s setting in the snow.” “Wow.” Grace replied, thinking about how wise it sounded, glancing back at the sunset. “I think it’s an AllWing, a dragon from all tribes. It flies across the sky in the day, and then it goes to sleep in the ocean. That’s when the moon comes out, and takes it’s place, but she’s dimmer then the sun, allowing the dragons down here to sleep in the dark, and bring peace during a time of day.” He paused, taking it in. He took a breath, getting ready to speak. “That’s... interesting.” He said, noticing the slightly hurt look on Graceful’s face. “I mean, like, it’s... a pretty cool... urm... thought...” he said awkwardly, twisting his mouth wryly. Grace liked that Winter Spruce was awkward, but calm and prickly and secretly a big softy. He tended to act grumpy and cool with the four, but when he was with just one of them, he let out his true self(or what she thought was his true self)and acted loving and kind and perfect. Grace smiled at his attempt. “Okay, okay, stop talking. I know it’s a weird thought, but I’m weird, so...” she paused. Ack why is this SO AWKWARD. She thought, blushing. They both knew why it was so awkward, but neither spoke. “Well.” Winter Spruce sighed. “I’m getting tired. It’s not too cold out here though. Do you want to just stay out here? With me?” He bit his lip. “Wait, my scales will just make yours cold. We can go inside. If you want.” “No! No.” Grace replied quickly. “I’d love to.” She smiled at him, gazing back into his deep eyes. Did that look stupid? Did he think that sounded nice? Moons above, why do I have to be so weird? The two settled down. Winter Spruce lay down first, and put his wing over Grace nervously as she settled. She put her head on his spine on an area where his spikes parted perfectly for her head. His scales were perfect, smooth, and cool. She raised her head to see where the sun was. It was just coming down to the earth, it’s golden light fading away, leaving silhouettes of trees in the distance. Winter’s scales still reflected a bit of light, but he was disappearing as well. She rested her head back on the chilly beauty of his back, closing her eyes in content. She couldn’t wish for anything more. History Sunsetter woke with a start. Argh, why is it so cold again!? She thought, hauling herself up with a shiver. The snow had all been melting last night, but now it was freezing again. She was going to SHOW THAT TAIGA WHO SHE’S MESSING WITH. Because it had JUST BEEN WARM ACK. She stumbled to the archway, trying to clear her mind of sleep. She’d stayed up late last night, awake listening to Oryx’s snoring. She didn’t know what an Oryx was or did or sounded or looked like, but she imagined a lazy, humorous, loud horse-like thing. That’s basically Oryx.(Yes Oryx is a loud horse-like thing don’t question it) Well, I should probably go hunting. Sunsetter thought wryly. Or else those four will be grumbling about it until they find something else to grumble about. She walked out of the cave to a bright, lively mountainside, filled with snow that now had an icy layer because of the melted snow re-melting and freezing once more. Icicles sparkled down from the cave entrance, poking down at Sunsetter annoyingly. She growled at them, getting ready to smash them apart when she realized that would most definitely wake everyone and they’d all yell at her and be horrible. She nearly tripped over Graceful’s long yellowy tail, swerving quickly to the side to avoid it.Ahh, Winterful is finally happening. She thought, pleased at herself for guessing the crushes correctly. The two lovebirds were snuggled up against each other, unbothered by the morning sun and newly falling snow. Graceful was snug underneath Winter Spruce’s pale blue wing. Her head lay against his neck, and she breathed softly, blowing puffs of fog with every breath. Her tail twitched softly, probably dreaming about her and Winter. Winter lay unmoving besides the occasional sigh of his ribs rising up and down. He looked happy, which was a rare emotion to spot on the IceWing’s snout. She took flight, leaving the two lovebirds to their dreams. The taiga flew beneath her, and she looked for the caribou that usually grazed along the edge of the spruce trees. The cool air caught her wings, lifting her up into the foggy abyss of stratus clouds. She was almost tempted to go explore, but she remembered how everyone would yell at her, and decided not to. Ah ha. She thought, spotting a herd grazing, pawing through the snow to get the foliage underneath. Suddenly, she dove, plummeting to the earth with tremendous speed. She pointed her talons down at a well-sized buck. It spotted her, but Sunsetter was already on him, sinking her talons into his neck, breaking it and killing him instantly. She gazed at her catch triumphantly, noticing a large scar that was just beginning to heal over on his hind leg. It looked nasty, and it was still red and puffy. She sniffed it. No infection. It was safe to eat. Oh, good, it was already injured. She sighed with relief. She’d tell that to Grace. She’d be pleased she hadn’t picked on a doe anyways. When she arrived back at the cave, everyone was up, and waiting for her at the stony ledge they called a table. She tossed the bloody carcass onto the ledge, landing as silently as she could manage. She blew a gust of wind across the table, sending a flurry of dust over to Deep, who sneezed quietly. “Oh, finally.” Oryx said, licking his pale lips. His tongue slithered in and out, drooling a little. Sunsetter sat down firmly. “I got a buck, Grace. And it was injured.” She tore a leg off nonchalantly. “You were listening to me!” She gasped happily, also tearing into the deer. “Yup” she replied, pleased that she didn’t get yelled at for being 3 seconds late. Sunsetter shared a hind leg with Deep, while Winter and Grace dug in together. Oryx chomped on the rib cage, happy to be eating alone. When they were finished, Grace asked “How did we get here?” Oryx groaned. “Graceful, not this again.” “We don’t know.” Sunsetter replied tartly. “But I’m sure we have to remember something somewhere along the line.” Deep took a deep breath. “Well, I suppose I do remember something.” She thought for a moment, and twisted her mouth oddly like she did when she was remembering, or having a great thought. “I was just a dragonet. I thought I remembered my mother dropping me off, saying something like “I’ll be back. Stay put.” She took another bite of the small portion that was left of the caribou. “But then she never returned.” Deep finished. “So then we somehow all found each other and survived. “I thought,” Graceful started. “That that one cool looking dragon was here for awhile, taking care of us, until he died. Or, something.” She added the last part on hurriedly. Winter Spruce snorted. “Well, I don’t remember that.” He scoffed. “Wait, wait.” Deep said calmly, twisting her mouth again. “I might remember that too. Wasn’t it a NightWing? Or a RainWing? Both?” She asked, rubbing her temples. “Hmm, I don’t know.” Graceful replied, fidgeting. There was a long, awkward silence. Sunsetter glanced out of the cave, trying to get an idea that would cancel out the quiet. “Do you ever wonder who our parents were?” Sunsetter countered, sniffling. “Maybe they died, and this conversation is pointless.” You can probably guess who said that. “Winter!” Graceful and Deep said in unison. “Don’t say stuff like that!” Deep cried. Sunsetter stifled a laugh, pretending to cough. She didn’t know why she found these things funny. “''I'' wonder where they went.” Graceful emphasized. “Our parents are probably still looking for us now! Even though it’s been over 7 years!” Oryx shook his head in disbelief. “I thought that SkyWings just bred and had kids? Not the lovey dovey crow-food and stuff. Well, that’s what I picked up from those outdated scrolls. Same with SandWings.” Sunsetter smiled. “You have been reading! I knew it!” She said triumphantly. “Oryx? Reading? Wow.” Deep said, honestly surprised and slightly incredulous. “Please don’t make a big deal about this.” Oryx grumbled, embarrassed. “Well, this conversation was slightly torturous.” Winter Spruce said. “I’m going for a flight.” “Oooo, can I come?” Graceful asked ecstatically. He sighed. “I guess.” He muttered, but Sunsetter could tell he was also ecstatic about going on a voluntary flight with his crush. She watched the two glide off to the west of their den, and sighed, wondering about her childhood. And was bored. She didn’t remember much, so it mustn’t have been very important. She did vaguely recall a NightWing, and a brightly coloured (possibly) RainWing. No memories of her parents came up, though. She also thought that Deep knew more about our past then she wanted us to know. Usually she got quirky and all smarty-pants when we were talking about things that required smarts or anything she could brag about, but she usually stayed quiet when they talked about the history of us. She decided to go to her miniature library to read a scroll on her favourite topic;hybrids. She liked learning about what other hybrids thought. It was outdated, but enjoyable. It featured many hybrids like an IceWing-SeaWing, an SandWing-NightWing, and a few others. She cozyed up in a small corner that tended to stay warm in the winter seasons. Sighing contentedly, she opened to the first page... About a RainWing-NightWing named Peacemaker. Trivia *I had a really hard time debating Winter Spruce’s friend’s names *Winter is prickly on the outside like spruce needles, but soft as spruce logs on the inside that can sometimes be seen if he sheds off some needles. *Winterful is a thing *I feel like I started a trend of naming oc names two words long and the first word is Winter and the second is a plant or something *They ended up in the taiga when the war was raging on outside, and are about as old as the dragonets of destiny *I like Winter the best out of the five *Winter and the four were raised by a RainWing and another dragon Gallery 5C180967-9802-4076-9E99-699F675CC80A.png|Uncoloured headshot of Winter by me File:3CB0711A-E8B0-411F-A115-4F704AF8FA66.png|Coloured headshot by me also 7B8E96FE-473F-45C3-ABDB-9580E2075608.png|Ref of Winter by me again DBA6B9BF-5DA7-4EEB-BA27-E7B690A6197E.jpeg|The pic I’m basing Winter Spruce off of Category:Characters Category:Males Category:IceWings Category:Content (Moonbreeze427) Category:Status (Leader) Category:Mature Content Category:Dragonets Category:Occupation (Explorer)